HERO TO ZERO The six clues that Line of Duty's Ted Hastings could be the corrupt cop ‘H’

By Robert Ainley

22 April 2019

He is one of the best loved characters on the show but with just two episodes to go he has become increasingly suspicious.

LINE Of Duty's Superintendent Ted Hastings has become more and more suspicious as the series has gone on and with just two episodes left, all the fingers seem to be pointing to him.

DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston and DS Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) have been working hard to discover the identity of “H” and while Hastings might have initially seemed too obvious, his behaviour is starting to suggest otherwise and fans are convinced there is more to him than first meets the eye.

Here are the six clues that point to Hastings being a baddie after all...

1. Corbett's killed after attacking Hastings' wife

During last night's episode, John Corbett (Stephen Graham), who was working as an undercover cop with the Balaclava Gang, was brutally killed by the gang.

He had just beaten up Hastings' estranged wife and confessed it - leaving the copper furious and hell bent on revenge.

There also seems to be a link between Corbett and Hastings from Northern Ireland - although it is not yet clear if or how they know each other.

On learning the news he tried to get Arnott to assassinate him during a showdown but he refused to do it.

Corbett ended up getting killed anyway - was it just a coincidence or did Hastings pull the strings to get him murdered?

2. The wad of cash he received

Ted has had money problems since the second series of the show.

He invested in a property development in Ireland behind his wife’s back and lost his money, which led to the break down of his marriage and him living in a hotel.

On last night’s show he was presented with a huge wad of cash from the man who has offered to help him get his cash back.

But what is really going in? Is the man legitimate or is Hastings being blackmailed? Could he have been desperate enough to work with the Balaclava Gang for cash?

3. The spelling of the word 'definitely'

After last night's episode fans think they have spotted proof Hastings is H after he misspelled 'definitely' just like the corrupt OCG cop.

The character took over a chat with the notorious gang they are trying to catch.

The police had hacked into the chat to trick the gang, but eagle-eyed viewers quickly noticed how Hastings spelled definitely with an A just like H did.

Again, was it just a coincidence or another sign it really is him?

4. He appears nervous

Hastings has been appearing pretty shifty on screen and was almost sweating as he watched DS Steve Arnott and DS Kate Fleming interview PS Jane Cafferty a few weeks ago.

We learnt that PS Jane was in fact bent and she revealed she had been recruited to the network by a top copper.

She was shown a series of potential police men it could be and was seen picking one – although viewers didn’t get to see who it was.

While it turned out not to be Hastings, he has continued to remain shifty throughout the series.

5. The dead balaclava man

In series four Hastings killed a balaclava man who was holding a police man hostage. At the time we praised him for being really brave.

But Corbett has now thrown suspicion on the moment, questioning why he felt the need to kill him.

He asked: “There were a dozen AFOs with weapons on him. Are you seriously telling me they couldn’t have brought Denmoor in for questioning?!”

Was Hastings worried he would get found out if he let him live?

6. The visit to OCG member Lee Banks in prison

In last night's episode Hastings was seen visiting OCG member Lee Banks (Alastair Natkiel) at Blackthorn Prison.

While we didn't get to hear what they were discussing, one theory is that he told him that Corbett was an undercover cop and Lee then passed the news on to Lisa.